Germie Bernard — Week 1: Active, Dressed, and Not Thrown To
2026 NFL Season · Half-PPR Scoring · Monday, Sep 14
Bernard was not on Pittsburgh's inactive list Sunday, per Dave Bryan at Steelers Depot, and his name does not appear in the play-by-play: no targets, no carries, no returns. Aaron Rodgers threw forty times, ten of them to DK Metcalf, six to Roman Wilson, three to Michael Pittman and two to Darnell Washington, in a 20–13 win over the Falcons.
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Germie Bernard's first regular-season game is a line the play-by-play does not have. He was active — Pittsburgh's inactives were Will Howard, Drew Allar, Gennings Dunker, Kevin Jobity, Gabriel Rubio and Joey Porter Jr., per Dave Bryan at Steelers Depot, and Bernard was not among them — and across the whole play-by-play his name is not in a single description. No target, no carry, no return, no penalty. Before the game, Nik Antenucci at SteelerNation relayed Ray Fittipaldo saying on the Fan Morning Show that the expectation was a minimal workload for the rookie, that he was still learning the offense and the trust with Aaron Rodgers was not all the way there. Sunday matched that.
What the passing game did without him is the football. Rodgers threw 40 times on 42 pass plays, 24 completions, 221 yards, one touchdown, no interceptions, two sacks. 10 of the throws went to DK Metcalf, who caught four for 40 yards and none of his six deep targets; six to Jaylen Warren, six to Roman Wilson, five to Rico Dowdle, five to Pat Freiermuth, three to Michael Pittman, two to Darnell Washington, and three with no listed receiver. Among wide receivers that is Metcalf 10, Wilson six, Pittman three — 19 targets, 10 catches, a hundred 24 yards. The one touchdown went to Freiermuth, a tight end, third and three at the Atlanta six with 10 44 left in the half. The 42 pass plays came out at −12.1 expected points added — expected points added is what a play was worth given down, distance and field position — and the best of the wide-receiver targets by that measure were Pittman's three, which were all caught and worth +3.4.
Pittsburgh threw 28 times before halftime and 15 after, and went three of 12 on third down. The 11 third-down throws went to Metcalf four times, Wilson three times, Dowdle, Freiermuth and Washington once each, and one with no listed receiver; none went to a fourth or fifth wide receiver, which is where the play-by-play leaves Bernard.
The June preview's case for Bernard was the price Pittsburgh paid — three picks to move up to 47 after missing on Makai Lemon — plus a season leading Alabama in receiving and the steadiest rookie buzz of minicamp. None of that is contradicted by one game with no targets, and none of it is confirmed either; the preview never said Week 1. Pittsburgh is at the Patriots on Sunday the twentieth. The first number to look for is the first target.
_Data via nflverse._
When Germie Bernard's week moves the numbers, you'll know — every episode, in one weekly email.
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